Last weekend I was guest blogging on the French Scrap 'N Photo blog about a Dutch Christmas tradition. And since the tradition started yesterday and I guess some of you might not have read the French blog I thought I'd share it here too :)
So, Virgile from Scrap 'N Photo, asked me if I could tell something about the Dutch December traditions.
I thought I could talk about how we decorate the Christmas tree listening to the same music as in my childhood, or about the presents we give to each other under the Christmas tree on Christmas Eve, or even about the family dinner on Christmas day where everybody brings a dish and we share it all.
But to be honest, I don’t think that is so interesting and probably not a lot different than the things people in other countries do with Christmas.
And then another tradition came to my mind. It’s a pretty new tradition that started only in 2004 but every single person in the Netherlands knows about it.
It’s called “Serious Request”. “Serious Request” is a benefit event hosted the week before Christmas each year by the Dutch radio station 3FM.
On December 18 3 DJ’s get locked up in a glass house that is build somewhere in the center of a Dutch city from where they will broadcast for 6 days, 24 hours a day, raising money for a good cause by the Red Cross. The DJ’s are not allowed to eat, only drink, during these 6 days and of course the goal is to raise as much money as possible.
Over the years “Serious Request” has become a really big thing. a few weeks ago the DJ’s that will be in the house were announced (of course every DJ in the Netherlands wants to be in it!) and the good cause of this year is to help women and girls who are victims of sexual abuse in war zones and conflict areas. The slogan is “Hands of our girls!”
Usually the square around the glass house is crowded day and night, with people who come to see the DJ’s, bring their donations, or just to experience the feeling of togetherness. And there are a lot of guests coming to the house for interviews and life music.
photo from http://seriousrequest.3fm.nl
photo from http://seriousrequest.3fm.nl
There is a special channel on television where you can see live reports 24 hours a day and in our house we have the radio on from early morning until in the evening.
Already now people start to collect money, children, groups of friends, companies, sports clubs, schools and so on. They ask for donations, bake cakes and sell them, organize auctions, walk, bike or swim and get them selves sponsored, organize events.... whatever they can think of. Also, during the event you can request for a specific song to be played and pay for it, or send a text message that will be shown in the news feed on tv and dontate that way.
photo from http://seriousrequest.3fm.nl
photo from http://seriousrequest.3fm.nl
On Christmas Eve the DJ’s get out of the house and the amount of money raised so far is announced. Last year it was €12.302.747!
For me personally this is already a very cherished tradition. I’m looking forward to listening to the radio that week (I normally never have the radio on). Hearing all the stories, some fun and exciting, some touching and moving, of people collecting money, having the feeling that the whole country, for once, is united for the good cause. The excitement, the joy, the connectedness… Basically The Christmas Spirit!
photo from http://seriousrequest.3fm.nl
If you want to learn more about this event you can visit the Serious Request Wikipedia site here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serious_Request (in english) or got to the official Serious Request website (in Dutch) http://seriousrequest.3fm.nl
Last year the glass house was in Leeuwarden, only about an hour from where I live and me and my family went there one day. The good cause was a campaign against child death from diarrhea with the slogan “Let’s clean this shit up!”
So let's have a look at my page. I used pictures from the house, from the soap we bought to help the good cause and of my old radio, that is in my studio and is only turned on in this special week.
Have you ever heard of Molotow Masking Liquid Markers? If not, you should check them out. You can draw, doodle and write with them or color in stencils and masks.
After they are dry you can cover your background with paint or ink and let it dry again and then rub away the marker revealing the color underneath.
Just imagine all the fun things you can do with that!!
I started with a white piece of cardstock and wrote the text of my subtitle with the marker, then I just doodles some circles and spirals and let the Molotow Masking Fluid dry.
When it was dry I covered ¾ of m background with acrylic paint, using a brayer and let that dry too. You have to make sure that your paint is completely dry, otherwise you will smear the wet paint into the masked parts when rubbing of the masking fluid!
If you use a light paint or ink like spay inks or watercolor you can rub off the masking fluid with your finger but I found out that is quite hard to rub off the acrylic paint, I almost got a burn on my finger when I just started so I used an eraser to rub it off and that worked perfectly!
Finally I took a fine black pen to draw the outlines of the text to make it stand out a little bit more.
Another thing I thought was fun to show you is how I created the banner at the top.
I used a plain green piece of scalloped washi tape and drew the outline with a fine black pen. Then I took a black marker to draw circles in the scallops and finally I layered a thinner piece of washi tape on top.
Isn’t that fun?!!
This year the house is in Haarlem and upcoming monday hubby and I are going there to feel the atmosphere. From there we will go to Amsterdam where we will spent the night and do some Christmas shopping the next day. Very much looking forward to that! Until then my radio is playing!
Happy holidays!!
Love,
